Reconstructing Marcus Antonius: Rethinking the Representation of a Roman Triumvir in the Hellenistic East Öffentlichkeit

Abstract

The identification of Marcus Antonius with the Hellenic god Dionysos has long been defined in terms of alienation from Rome and Roman cultural ideals, a perception born from an ancient literary record shaped by the victory narrative of the Augustan age. During the triumviral period, Antonius’s enemies distorted his associations with Dionysos to impugn his character, and remnants of these invective attacks are evident in the largely non-contemporaneous literary reports that Antonius publicly declared himself neos (new, young) Dionysos and imitated the god in his mode of life. Frequently cited in support of these literary reports are two inscriptions attesting to divine honors for Antonius in Athens, IG II² 1043 and Agora XVIII H273 (= Agora Inv. I 3071), and the issues of cistophori (RPC 2201-2202) from Asia bearing the portrait of Antonius crowned with the ivy wreath of Dionysos. A lack of effort to analyze these objects outside the literary narrative has led to a limited view of the relationship between Antonius and Dionysos, a view that has not adequately accounted for the role of the honorific traditions connected with Hellenistic ruler cults. This study evaluates the Athenian inscriptions and the cistophori as independent documents generated within an environment where cities and groups routinely offered isotheoi timai (divine honors) to worthy benefactors like Antonius in the kind of euergetic exchange familiar from the Hellenistic rulership model. Consideration of the evidence from this perspective suggests that Antonius became associated with Dionysos as part of honors bestowed upon him on account of the victories of his armies over the Parthians in 39-38 B.C.E., the protocols surrounding the ritualized reception of important persons in cities, and possible benefactions afforded to at least one association of technitai (artists) of Dionysos. These connections between the development of Antonius’s identification with Dionysos and the bases for honorific treatment through ruler cult are informed by, but not directly expressed in, the literary sources. Expanding the conversation in this way demonstrates that a more nuanced and multi-dimensional assessment of Antonius and his career in the Hellenistic East is achievable on a much larger scholarly scale.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1   Introduction ...........................................................................................................1 Chapter 2   More Than Men, Less Than Gods .........................................................................15 2.1. Mortal Deification .............................................................................................................17 2.2. Hellenistic Ruler Cult in the polis .....................................................................................21 2.3. An Example of Hellenistic Ruler Cult in Action ..............................................................25 2.4. Hellenistic Ruler Cult and Roman Magistrates (2nd-1st centuries B.C.E.) ......................34 2.5. A Sign of Things to Come: The Gold stater of Titus Quinctius Flamininus ....................40 Chapter 3   Athens Offers Divine Honors to Antonius ............................................................43 3.1. IG II² 1043, Ephebic Monument of 37/6 B.C.E. ..............................................................44 3.2. Agora XVIII H273/Agora Inv. I 3071, Inscribed Altar Fragment of ca. 39-32 B.C.E. ....52 3.3. Recontextualizing IG II² 1043 and Agora XVIII H273 ....................................................59 3.4. The Missing Monuments ...................................................................................................79 Chapter 4   Antonius and the Ivy ..............................................................................................85 4.1. Introduction to the cistophori of Antonius (RPC 2201-2202) ...........................................87 4.2. Quantification and Circulation ..........................................................................................95 4.3. Qualitative Commentary ...................................................................................................111 4.4. Antonius and Ephesos .......................................................................................................121 Chapter 5   Reconstructing and Rethinking Marcus Antonius .................................................135 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................145 Figures ......................................................................................................................................158

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Art History
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Classical Studies History, Ancient Art History
Stichwort	Theos Neos Dionysos Cleopatra VII (69-30 B.C. Roman coinage Octavia Minor (69-11 B.C.) Roman Republic Hellenistic ruler cult Mark Antony (83-30 B.C.) Triumviral Period (43-31 B.C.)
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Varner, Eric R., Emory University
Committee Members	Robins, Gay, Emory University Wescoat, Bonna D., Emory University

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